Hydraulic drilling or servicing rig

ABSTRACT

A fluid operator extends and retracts vertically, elevators with or without the rotary head for placing and pulling drill pipe by the combination of scissor type linkage which moves the head vertically. The linkage includes inner and outer members which fold due to the fluid operator and cross over from a lower position to an upper position and vice versa thus giving a relatively large vertical movement to the head which enables the device to be used with standard lengths of drill pipe up to, for example, 32 feet with a fluid operator having a stroke considerably less than the length of the pipe being moved.

White States ate 1; Gray HYDRAULIC DRILLING OR SERVICING [21] Appl. No.:453,832

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data [56] References Cited UNITEDSTATES PATENTS 2,513,246 6/1950 Moench 254/122 2,950,085 8/1960 Cizzadro254/124 X FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1,142,380 9/1957 France 173/38Primary Examiner-Ernest R. Purser Assistant Examiner-William F. Pate,Ill Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Stanley G. Ade

[57] ABSTRACT A fluid operator extends and retracts vertically,elevators with or without the rotary head for placing and pulling drillpipe by the combination of scissor type linkage which moves the headvertically. The linkage includes inner and outer members which fold dueto the fluid operator and cross over from a lower position to an upperposition and vice versa thus giving a rela tively large verticalmovement to the head which enables the device to be used with standardlengths of drill pipe up to, for example, 32 feet with a fluid operatorhaving a stroke considerably less than the length of the pipe beingmoved.

10 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PATENTED MAR I 1 I975 SHEET 1 0F 2 PATENIEDMRI 1 I975 SHEET 2 BF 2 BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This inventionrelates to new and useful improvements in drilling and servicing rigs.

Conventionally, drill pipe, tubing and rods are pulled with a winchwhich utilizes a derrick structure to hold upper sheaves. Cables go downover the upper sheaves and around several travelling block sheaves tothe winch operated by a source of power. When pulling pipe, it is pulledup to the next threaded connection, set in slips, broken out and liftedfrom the coupling. The operator pushes the bottom end of the separatedpipe back away from the working area approximately 6 feet whereupon thewinch lets it down on supporting timbers. When it touches the timbers,the derrick man unhooks the elevators at the top and swings the top ofthe pipe back into the fingers on the platform whereupon it stands inthe derrick until ready to run into the hole at which time the reverseoperation takes place. At the start or finish of drilling, the length ofpipe are lifted from the fingers and let down to a pipe rack once againby winch.

All of this is time consuming and dangerous to the workers. Furthermore,conventional derricks are subject to instability in high winds and aredifficult to stabilize.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention overcomes all of thesedisadvantages inasmuch as the operator does not work in the danger areaand hydraulics are used which gives smoothness and ease of control overthe standard cables.

The principal object and essence of the invention is therefore toprovide an hydraulic rig which enables drill pipe to be placed andpulled in and from a drill hole rapidly and easily.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device of the characterherewithin described which permits the necessary vertical movement tothe rotary drive and elevators to be accomplished with a relativelyshort stroke hydraulic piston and cylinder due to the provision ofscissor linkage.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a device of thecharacter herewithin described which, due to the fact that it isoperated hydraulically, enables other duties to be automated such asunscrewing and screwing up the adjacent lengths of pipe.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a device of thecharacter herewithin described which can utilize an hydraulicallyoperated rotary head for the drilling pipe.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a device of thecharacter herewithin described which consists of an easily operatedpulling unit that is remotely controlled, simple in construction, andeasy to transport from one position to the other.

With the foregoing objects in view, and other such objects andadvantages as will become apparent to those skilled in the art to whichthis invention relates as this specification proceeds, my inventionconsists essentially in the arrangement and construction of parts all ashereinafter more particularly described, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings in which:

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a schematic side elevation showingthe invention mounted upon conventional mounting structure at a drillingsite.

FIG. 2 is an end elevation of the pipe rack per se.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged side elevation of the invention in the lowermostposition.

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3 but showing the invention in thefully extended position.

FIG. 5 is an end elevation taken from the right hand side of FIG. 4.

In the drawings like characters of reference indicate correspondingparts in the different figures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Proceeding therefore to describe the invention indetail, reference should first be made to FIG. I in which the inventionis shown and identified by reference character 10, mounted uponsuperstructure collectively designated 11, situated above the groundlevel 12 and adapted to pull and rotate pipe within a drill bore 13.

A source of power in the form of motor 14 is mounted upon the supportingstructure 11 and this in turn drives an hydraulic pump 15.

A control panel 16 is connected to the pump 15 by means of conventionalhosing or piping l7 and this in turn is connected to the main hydraulicpiston and cylinder assembly collectively designated 18, of theinvention 10, by means of fluid hoses 19 in the usual way, thuspermiting the piston and cylinder assembly 18 to be extended orretracted as desired by an operator situated at the control panel remotefrom the drill string 20.

Conventional items are shown schematically such as the blow-outpreventer stack 21, slips 22 and hydraulic tongs 23, all of which arewell known, and it is therefore believed not necessary to describe samefurther.

Situated to one side of the supporting structure 11 is a drill rackcollectively designated 24 upon which lengths of drill pipe 25 may bestored horizontally. Spaced and parallel support members 26 are providedpivoted by one end thereof to vertical supports 27 and pivotally securedto hydraulic fluid operators 28 by the other end thereof. Drill piperetainers 29 extend upwardly from the ends of the members 26. The fluidoperators 28 permit the members 26 to be inclined upwardly as shown inphantom by reference character 26A or downwardly as shown in phantom byreference character 268 thus allowing the length of pipe to run towardsone end or the other depending whether these lengths are being takenfrom the rack for use or being placed upon the rack for storage.

In this connection, an hydraulically operated crane 30 is provided onthe supporting structure 11 to facilitate the lifting and placement ofthese lengths of drill pipe as they are needed.

FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 show details of the invention per se identifiedpreviously by reference character 10 and including the aforementionedhydraulically operated piston and cylinder assembly 18.

A pair of spaced and parallel support members 31 extend upwardly fromthe supporting structure 11 and may be braced if necessary, by diagonalmembers 32 extending between the support members 31 and the supportingstructure, said members being shown in FIG. 1.

An outer linkage system collectively designated 33 is provided and formsa parallelogram. It consists of a pair of spaced and parallel mainlinkage members 34 pivoted by one end thereof to adjacent the upper endsof the support members 31 by means of pivot pins 35.

A pair of spaced and parallel brace links 36 are pivoted by one endthereof to the support members 31 by means of pivot pins 37 and theseare spaced below pivot pins as clearly shown in FIGS. 3 and 4.

A second pair of spaced and parallel link members 38 are pivotallysecured between the outer ends of the first linkage members 34 by meansof pivot pin 39 and by the lower ends thereof to the outer ends of thebrace links 36 by means of pivot pins 40 thus forming the aforementionedparallelogram, which is capable of moving from the position shown inFIG. 3 to the position shown in FIG. 4 or vice versa.

Also provided is a head support linkage system collectively designated41 and this consists of a pair of spaced and parallel link members 42pivoted intermediate the ends thereof upon either side of the cylinder18A by means of pivot pins 43.

An hydraulically operated rotary head collectively designated 44 ispivotally secured between the ends 45 of the linkage members 42 by meansof pivots 46 and this rotary head takes the place of the conventionalsquare drive Kelly. However, as the construction and operation of thisrotary head does not form part of the invention, it is not believednecessary to provide details thereof.

The other ends of the linkage members 42 are pivotally secured to thepivot rod 39 which extends through the other ends of the links 34 and 38as previously described.

Link means collectively designated 47 interconnect the piston rod 18B tothe outer linkage system 33 and this link means 47 consists of a headframe collectively designated 48. This head frame includes the crossmember 49 secured intermediate the ends thereof transversely to thedistal end of the piston rod 188 as clearly shown in FIG. 5.

A pair of spaced and parallel side members 50 extend one each from eachend of the cross bar 49 and are pivotally secured to the first mainlinkage members 34 intermediate the ends thereof by means of pivot pins51.

The pivot pins 40 extend between the members 36 and 38 and are providedwith limit links 52 pivotally secured to this pivot pin 40 by one endthereof and being pivotally secured to the lower end 18C of the cylinder18A by means of pivot pins 53.

Sprocket and chain means collectively designated 54 are interconnectedbetween the outer linkage system 33 and the head support linkage system41. This sprocket and chain means includes a first gear or sprocketsegment 55 secured to the other end of the link members 42 but beingpivotally secured to the linkage members 34.

A second gear or sprocket segment 56 is secured to the link members 38intermediate the ends thereof.

An idler sprocket 57 is journalled for rotation upon a pin 58 secured tothe linkage members 34 between pivot pins 39 and 51 and a sprocket chain59 is secured by one end thereof to the one end of the segment 55 as at60 and extends around this segment, around the idler sprocket 57 and issecured by the other end thereof to one end of the second segment 56 asindicated by reference character 61.

This sprocket and chain assembly interconnects the movement of the outerlinkage system 33 with the head frame linkage system 41 when the pistonand cylinder assembly 18 is extended or retracted. FIG. 3 shows thedevice in the lowermost position and with the piston and cylinderassembly 18 fully retracted. As the piston and cylinder assembly isextended, the interconnected linkage causes the rotary head 44 to movevertically to the uppermost position shown in FIG. 4, with the variouslinkage connections jack-knifing and crossing over in a scissor-likefashion to the fully extended position of the piston and cylinderassembly shown in FIGS. 4 and 5.

If desired, a high pressure gas piston and cylinder assembly 62 may beconnected between pivot 37 and the member 34, which acts as an energystoring device inasmuch as the gas is compressed when the device is inthe lowermost position and assists in raising the device as the pistonand cylinder is extended.

The device enables the operator to have full control at all times andfacilitates the operation of drill string pulling and runningparticularly.

Finally it should be noted that the assembly is well suited for mountingon a mobile platform particularly when it is used as a servicing rig.Under these circumstances it is designed to fold down fortransportation. In this regard, support members 31 are pivoted to thesupporting structure 11 together with the diagonal braces 32. Bydisconnecting the upper ends of the braces 32 from the members 31, boththe braces and the device 10 can be folded down upon the upper side ofthe platform 11.

Since various modifications can be made in my invention as hereinabovedescribed, and many apparently widely different embodiments of same madewithin the spirit and scope of the claims without departing from suchspirit and scope, it is intended that all matter contained in theaccompanying specification shall be interpreted as illustrative only andnot in a limiting sense.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. In an hydraulic drilling rig which includes supporting structure, asource of power, an hydraulic pump, a control panel and hydraulic hosesinterconnecting same; the improvement comprises an operating unitmounted upon said supporting structure, said unit comprising incombination support members extending upwardly from said supportingstructure, a parallelogram outer linkage system pivotally secured by oneend thereof to said support members, an hydraulic piston and cylinderassembly, a rotary head supporting linkage system pivotally securedintermediate the ends thereof to said cylinder intermediate the endsthereof, a rotary head pivotally securing one end of said supportinglinkage system, and link means interconnecting said piston rod to saidouter linkage system, the other end of said supporting link system beingpivotally connected to the other end of said outer linkage system.

2. The invention according to claim 1 which includes sprocket and chainmeans interconnected between said outer linkage system and said headsupporting linkage system for controlling the movement therebetween whensaid piston and cylinder is extended or retracted.

3. The invention according to claim 1 in which said outer linkage systemincludes a first pair of spaced and parallel main link members pivotallysecured by one end thereof to adjacent the upper ends of said supportmembers, a pair of brace links pivotally secured by one end thereof tosaid support members below said main linkage members, a second pair oflink members pivotally secured between the other ends of said firstlinkage members and the other ends of said brace links.

4. The invention according to claim 1 in which said head support linkagesystem includes a pair of spaced and parallel link members pivotedintermediate the ends to said cylinder intermediate the ends of saidcylinder, said rotary head being pivoted between the one ends of saidspaced and parallel link members, the other ends of said spaced andparallel link members being pivotally secured to the other ends of saidouter V linkage system.

5. The invention according to claim 2 in which said head support linkagesystem includes a pair of spaced and parallel link members pivotedintermediate the ends to said cylinder intermediate the ends of saidcylinder, said rotary head being pivoted between the one ends of saidspaced and parallel link members, the other ends of said spaced andparallel link members being pivotally secured to the other ends of saidouter linkage system.

6. The invention according to claim 3 in which said head support linkagesystem includes a pair of spaced and parallel link members pivotedintermediate the ends to said cylinder intermediate the ends of saidcylinder, said rotary head being pivoted between the one ends of saidspaced and parallel link members, the other ends of said spaced andparallel link members being pivotally secured to the other ends of saidouter linkage system.

7. The invention according to claim 1 in which said link meansinterconnecting said piston rod to said outer linkage system includes ahead frame secured to said piston rod, said frame including a crossmember and a pair of spaced and parallel side members extending from theends of said cross member, the distal ends of said side members beingpivotally secured to intermediate the ends of said outer linkage system.

8. The invention according to claim 2 in which said link meansinterconnecting said piston rod to said outer linkage system includes ahead frame secured to said piston rod, said frame including a crossmember and a pair of spaced and parallel side members extending from theends of said cross member, the distal ends of said side members beingpivotally secured to intermediate the ends of said outer linkage system.

9. The invention according to claim 3 in which said link meansinterconnecting said piston rod to said outer linkage system includes ahead frame secured to said piston rod, said frame including a crossmember and a pair of spaced and parallel side members extending from theends of said cross member, the distal ends of said side members beingpivotally secured to intermediate the ends of said first pair of spacedand parallel main link members.

10. The device according to claim 5 in which said sprocket and chainmeans includes a first sprocket segment secured to said second pair oflink members intermediate the ends thereof, a second sprocket segmentsecured to the other end of said link members of said head supportinglinkage system an idler sprocket pivotally secured to said first pair ofmain link members of said outer linkage system intermediate the endsthereof and a sprocket chain secured by one end thereof to said firstsegment, said chain extending around said idler sprocket and beingsecured by the other end thereof to said second segment, the other endof said first main linkage member, said other end of said link membersof said head support linkage, and the other ends of said second'pair oflinkage members of said outer linkage system all being pivotally securedtogether.

1. In an hydraulic drilling rig which includes supporting structure, asource of power, an hydraulic pump, a control panel and hydraulic hosesinterconnecting same; the improvement comprises an operating unitmounted upon said supporting structure, said unit comprising incombination support members extending upwardly from said supportingstructure, a parallelogram outer linkage system pivotally secured by oneend thereof to said support members, an hydraulic piston and cylinderassembly, a rotary head supporting linkage system pivotally securedintermediate the ends thereof to said cylinder intermediate the endsthereof, a rotary head pivotally securing one end of said supportinglinkage system, and link means interconnecting said piston rod to saidouter linkage system, the other end of said supporting link system beingpivotally connected to the other end of said outer linkage system.
 1. Inan hydraulic drilling rig which includes supporting structure, a sourceof power, an hydraulic pump, a control panel and hydraulic hosesinterconnecting same; the improvement comprises an operating unitmounted upon said supporting structure, said unit comprising incombination support members extending upwardly from said supportingstructure, a parallelogram outer linkage system pivotally secured by oneend thereof to said support members, an hydraulic piston and cylinderassembly, a rotary head supporting linkage system pivotally securedintermediate the ends thereof to said cylinder intermediate the endsthereof, a rotary head pivotally securing one end of said supportinglinkage system, and link means interconnecting said piston rod to saidouter linkage system, the other end of said supporting link system beingpivotally connected to the other end of said outer linkage system. 2.The invention according to claim 1 which includes sprocket and chainmeans interconnected between said outer linkage system and said headsupporting linkage system for controlling the movement therebetween whensaid piston and cylinder is extended or retracted.
 3. The inventionaccording to claim 1 in which said outer linkage system includes a firstpair of spaced and parallel main link members pivotally secured by oneend thereof to adjacent the upper ends of said support members, a pairof brace links pivotally secured by one end thereof to said supportmembers below said main linkage members, a second pair of link memberspivotally secured between the other ends of said first linkage membersand the other ends of said brace links.
 4. The invention according toclaim 1 in which said head support linkage system includes a pair ofspaced and parallel link members pivoted intermediate the ends to saidcylinder intermediate the ends of said cylinder, said rotary head beingpivoted between the one ends of said spaced and parallel link members,the other ends of said spaced and parallel link members being pivotallysecured to the other ends of said outer linkage system.
 5. The inventionaccording to claim 2 in which said head support linkage system includesa pair of spaced and parallel link members pivoted intermediate the endsto said cylinder intermediate the ends of said cylinder, said rotaryhead being pivoted between the one ends of said spaced and parallel linkmembers, the other ends of said spaced and parallel link members beingpivotally secured to the other ends of said outer linkage system.
 6. Theinvention according to claim 3 in which said head support linkage systemincludes a pair of spaced and parallel link members pivoted intermediatethe ends to said cylinder intermediate the ends of said cylinder, saidrotary head being pivoted between the one ends of said spaced andparallel link members, the other ends of said spaced and parallel linkmembers being pivotally secured to the other ends of said outer linkagesystem.
 7. The invention according to claim 1 in which said link meansinterconnecting said piston rod to said outer linkage system includes ahead frame secured to said piston rod, said frame including a crossmember and a pair of spaced and parallel side mEmbers extending from theends of said cross member, the distal ends of said side members beingpivotally secured to intermediate the ends of said outer linkage system.8. The invention according to claim 2 in which said link meansinterconnecting said piston rod to said outer linkage system includes ahead frame secured to said piston rod, said frame including a crossmember and a pair of spaced and parallel side members extending from theends of said cross member, the distal ends of said side members beingpivotally secured to intermediate the ends of said outer linkage system.9. The invention according to claim 3 in which said link meansinterconnecting said piston rod to said outer linkage system includes ahead frame secured to said piston rod, said frame including a crossmember and a pair of spaced and parallel side members extending from theends of said cross member, the distal ends of said side members beingpivotally secured to intermediate the ends of said first pair of spacedand parallel main link members.